We're Great at Customer Service

When people find out what I do, they invariably respond with "Oh, we're great at customer service!"

Now, far be it from me to doubt them, but I often wonder whether I would get such a positive response if I actually asked their customers.

Albert F Schielder is credited with having said 'We tend to judge others by their behaviour, and ourselves by our intentions' and this is never more true than in businesses interactions with their customers. You see, it's easy to think we're getting it right, when what people actually get is not what we believed we were giving.

It's all too easy to just sit back and assume, quite wrongly as it happens, that just because your customers don't complain to you, that they're completely happy with the service they're receiving. Since the advent of social media it has never been easier to let the world know how you feel and knee-jerk reactions to poor service are a common occurrence, with many customers choosing to vent their feelings across, most commonly, Twitter, rather than picking up the phone and complaining directly to the person at fault.

It's also been shown that whereas a satisfied customer will recommend you to 2-3 people, a dis-satisfied one will complain, on average, to 8-10 separate individuals and you can bet not one of those is you!

Believe it or not, great customer service comes into its own when customers are not that happy with your service because mistakes are golden opportunities to shine. Why? Because an unhappy customer will become a loyal customer if you acknowledge you got it wrong and then fix the problem, quickly and with a smile.

So how do you know whether your customers are happy? Simple - just ask them!! It's a very easy thing to do, but too often it's overlooked. Talk to your customers on a regular basis and they'll know you genuinely care about doing business with them. Ask them what you're doing that they like; ask them where you can do better. It's all part of Winning With a Whisper. To truly succeed in keeping your customers happy, you don't actually have to do a great deal. It's the little things that matter, those small gestures that your customers will remember and that will set you apart from your competitors.

The bottom line is, unless you ask your customers, how will you know? It's just a little thing, but never underestimate how effective it can be.

If you want to know how you're doing in business, ask your customers.

They'll often tell you all you need to know.